


The Afterwards

by Akuto



Series: Stuff Tangentially Related to The Interference [2]
Category: Homestuck, Kingdom Hearts, other fandoms mentioned only
Genre: Blood and Injury, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 01:58:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10911987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akuto/pseuds/Akuto
Summary: Same as before, with one more layer of meta, more self-indulgent power fantasies, and less direction than ever before.





	1. Scene 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Interference](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/290619) by Newbiespud. 



“This way!”

Alexander Karsath's voice rang out down the makeshift corridor, a natural fissure cut through grey slate plateau. Four others rushed behind the boy, each equally exhausted from the epic siege of Heartless they had wiped out only moments before. Yet, they had to press on. Overhead loomed the group's destination: a grand, decrepit castle of mangled clockwork, emblazoned with a giant Heartless emblem. The end was growing nearer, and though the journey had been hard going each member couldn't help showing flashes of elation on their faces.

The long corridor ended abruptly, widening out into a rounded basin. On the far side a waterfall took up the entire wall, pouring pure ocean water into a crystal-clear pool. Flat icy sheets hung suspended in the air, like stepping stones taking the shape of a spiral staircase. A pastel blue sky peered in over the edge, with not a cloud in sight. But in reality, it wasn't the view that made the heroes pause.

Alex had fully expected a scripted encounter, but this was...different. A hooded figure floated, cross-legged, some distance from the entrance in wait. But it certainly wasn't a member of the Organization. Instead of the silky black leather and chain that usually adorned their enemies, this person was dressed in bright cloth. The hood, which as usual concealed the eyes and any other notable features, was magenta and curled up in the back like a wisp of cotton candy. The soft pink cloth hung loosely on the body, trailing in two robe-like strips from the hips onwards (though there appeared to be sweatpants underneath). As if to capitalize on the absurdity of the outfit, there were also delicate, bright yellow slippers and even a large pocket at the waist where the stranger was currently resting their hands. On the chest, Alex could make out the symbol of a deep pink heart.

A somewhat weak whistle emanated from the dark hole where the face should be. A young man's voice spoke cheerfully. “Well, the gang's all here. It's been a while.”

“W-Who are you?” Alex couldn't help but stutter. The normally confident boy was a bit shaken at the wrench in his plans. “You're not supposed to...”

Sora gave his friend a quizzical look. “You don't know either, Alex?”

He shook his head subtly. “No...this guy was never- hey! What's so funny?”

The mysterious twenty-something had a hand up to his face, trying to keep his composure. “Oh man, you guys should see your faces right now! Don't worry, everything will make sense in a bit...and then we can get down to play the game.”

“What, you mean the 'game' we're all playing right now?” Alex rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. Even in the worst of times, this kid was always ready to supply the snark.

“Nah, not that at all,” the stranger waved his hand dismissively. The other hand darted to his face, as if to adjust an unseen pair of spectacles. “But first, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to put you guys to sleep. Nothing personal.”

A shower of silver mist swept past his outstretched hand, and in it appeared a long, curved scythe that looked to be made from a single piece of black steel, completely contrasting the young man's extraordinarily flamboyant outfit. Sweeping the blade to a neutral stance, like a staff, he began a quick chant.

_“O darkened storm cloud...”_

A deep purple circle of magic script sprang from the stranger's still-hovering feet. As if called by the words, black clouds rolled into the perfect sky in a matter of seconds. In their own varied flashes of energy, each member of the quintet brought forth their weapons and braced themselves.

_“...loose thy blade and run mine enemies through...”_

A new circle appeared...this time beneath their feet! Something big was targeting them. They each picked a direction and scattered to the edges.

**_“...THUNDER BLADE!”_ **

A deafening crash resounded throughout the basin. A massive lightning bolt, shaped precisely like a sword of spectral energy, sliced through the clouds and slammed into the circle like hitting a glowing purple bulls-eye. The moment the blade struck the ground a shock-wave coursed through the area, sending its fleeing targets into the walls.

“What the heck was that?” squawked Donald in his comically raspy voice. “Does _anybody_ understand what's going on?”

With only a moment's pause the stranger was on the move, clashing head to head with one hero after the next. As he parried the ebony scythe with his Lockshield, Alex caught sight of a smirk under that hood before the figure was off to his next opponent. Alex realized with a sickening feeling that this guy was toying with them, holding back far more strength than any of them could actually deliver in return. Was this all a joke to him?

Angelina, on the other hand, was deeply shaken. That magic...she had felt nothing like it before. It was deep and rich, simply unfathomable. But most concerning was...

“I know that spell!”

“What?” Sora yelled in response, struggling to block another onslaught of blades.

“I...I know where the spell comes from!” repeated the girl with a wavering yelp. “That's Thunder Blade, from Tales of Symphonia. I own that game, back at my house!”

Alex's eyes widened in realization. “That must mean...”

“He's another Interference!” finished Goofy, gloved hand clasping around a health potion.

“You've got that right,” said the man proudly. He didn't sound the slightest bit out of breath, smirking even more obnoxiously. “You three want a gold-star or something?”

 _“So there are others...”_ mused Joumae, though only Alex and Sora could really hear him. _“And crazy-powerful ones too. Can't put my finger on those loud pajamas, though...”_

“That's not really important right now!” Alex snapped at his dark counterpart. He trained a careful, calculating eye on their attacker, impatience growing. “What are you doing on this world, Interference? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you know that we're a bit lousy with heroes right now.”

The stranger feigned a sigh, a bit mockingly. “Oh Alex, always the stubborn one. So distrusting...but then again, it's what has kept you alive for so long. All will be revealed, if you would only go to sleep like a good-”

“Em- I mean, Seer!”

A new voice called out from atop the falls, belonging to a much younger boy. He could be no older than fourteen, and he was dressed in similar garb to his older companion. This outfit was black and grey, with a much snugger hood and a design more akin to a ninja's than a monk. Though his hood exposed more of his face, a black domino mask more than made up for it. On his chest was a swirly white mark, like that of a spiral galaxy.

But, it wasn't the boy's appearance that grabbed the most attention. A body hung limply from under his arm, clearly unconscious. It was a girl with long brown hair and plain clothes; though she only appeared dull by comparison to pretty much everyone else in the area. Angelina froze at the sight of her, and in the background she could hear Alex choke in surprise.

After a moment of stunned silence the two shouted, in perfect sync, “Erica!”

The stranger, Seer, smiled up at his partner, completely unperturbed. “Well, hello my Rogue. I see you've secured my precious cargo. But really, this isn't exactly the best ti-”

A wild shadow high-jumped to the Seer's perch and bowled into him, pinning him to the wall. Alex had activated his drive and gone into Anti-form, powered by the dark emotions he felt at seeing the girl held hostage. A twitchy clawed hand fastened itself around the Seer's neck and squeezed.

The Seer coughed in surprise, but quickly the hoarse sound turned into a laugh. “Please.”

With a swift movement Alex's transformed body was sent flying back to the ground, where he then lay. At that moment came a shout from the Rogue, who had just noticed Angelina trying to cautiously approach him. The moment he laid eyes on her she broke into a run, swinging her Skeleton Key and shouting, “Let go of her!”

“Angel-!” The Rogue pulled a shocked face and spun to her. He swiped his free arm through the air with a vertical motion and the space his fingers touched started to ripple, like a heat wave. Then, with the elasticity of a stretched rubber band the space snapped opened as a perfectly circular portal. Angelina could briefly glimpse through it another place, a balcony with yellowed stone walls and a red roof, but couldn't identify the place before the Rogue gently tossed the body through the rift.

The girl slowed, panic taking hold. “Where...who-!”

She felt a hand yank her off the ground by the back of her jacket, holding her directly over the rim of the falls. Angelina knew well that the fall wouldn't kill her, but she still found the sensation unnerving. A male chuckle revealed it to be the Seer.

“Well, this has just become a complete mess. I'm starting to think the 'mysterious villain approach' may have been the wrong way to go with this.”

“That's what I've been saying from the beginning!” voiced the Rogue in an exasperated tone.

“You may have been right, my Rogue,” he conceded. Even then, it sounded more like a tease than anything. “Whelp, I'll let you guys have some space for now. We can start fresh another time...though I understand if you'll still have a grudge against me by then. Er, sorry for the bruises...”

The Seer gingerly set Angelina back down, even going so far as to give her a quick pat on the arms to make sure she was okay. Then, with a small salute, he floated over to the open portal and left. The Rogue followed his companion, giving the group a shake of his head as though to apologize for the trouble they caused. The portal sealed itself behind him, leaving the group beaten and horribly confused.

“What...was _that_ all about?” huffed Sora as he tried to regain his breath. “Who in the world were those people?”

The darkness began to fade from Alex's still body. Donald hurried over to the boy's side and casted a Curaga spell. As the green magic settled on him, he stirred and groaned.

“Ugh, what...” His eyes snapped open and he jolted up in realization. “Erica! Where...?”

“They took her.”

Angelina had hopped down to the bottom again, her face plagued with worry. “Those two...that rogue-guy opened a portal and they got away.”

He looked up at her, narrowing his eyes in sudden question. “You know her?”

“She's my best friend,” the girl replied somewhat defensively. “How do you know her?”

“She's...my sister.”

Goofy remembered first. “You mean the one you mentioned before in the Pride Lands?”

“Yeah, that one.” Alex stood and looked up forlornly at the space where she had vanished. “But what's Erica doing here...how did they find her?”

“They're Interferences too,” Angelina surmised. “Assuming they have more control over this power than we do, I don't think it would be too difficult for them to find her.”

“...Or anyone else we care about,” spoke Sora, his voice growing more serious at the thought of it. “I mean, with that portal they can find anyone in this universe too! Do you guys think...they might have also gotten to Riku and Kairi?”

The other four exchanged concerned glances. It was certainly possible, but they didn't want to discourage their most upbeat comrade. Especially when he had been worked up over his two friends since the very beginning.

“Maybe,” said Alex, “but we shouldn't worry about that until we know for sure. I hate to say it, but for now...the only thing we can really do is keep moving forward. We still have to take out Organization XIII and Xemnas before it's too late, and then we can safely look for Erica and anyone else.”

A grimace crossed his face and he quickly turned around, taking one step after another towards the floating platforms.

“Come on,” said Sora. “We have to hurry if we want to save everyone.”


	2. Scene 2

“Phew!” the Seer sighed loudly. “That was way more of an ordeal than it should have been. See, this is what I get for milking it for dramatics. Though I must admit, that Replica Skeleton Key worked like a dream...”

He and the Rogue had teleported to the roof of the Hollow Bastion, from which they could see just about everything. There were rolling clouds in the reddening sky, the tranquility of the blue water stories below, and in the distance they could make out the silhouette of the vaguely steampunk town this castle had spawned. If they squinted, the two could even make out the small figures of the heroes battling Heartless to get to them.

The Rogue pulled his knees to him and imitated the sigh, but more genuinely than his friend. “Honestly, I have no idea why I agreed to this charade of yours. The code names, the phony banter...having to pull our hoods down at all times. I mean come on, we look _exactly_ like the bad guys when we do this, you know that right?”

“You know I know it,” the man in pink replied jovially. He had rested Erica's head on his lap and was absentmindedly petting her. “But seriously, I doubt any of them would choose to put this adventure on hold for our side quest. Besides, even if they did there's no way they would trust us to...well, put them through that. I just thought it would be a lot easier if I just knocked them out first, but I ended up having _way_ too much fun playing the bad guy.”

A silence settled between them, in which the Rogue shifted uncomfortably. He spoke, “It just...doesn't feel right, you know? Messing with the time-line at such an early point...they're still so young, inexperienced.”

The Seer just nodded, a sad smile playing across his exposed mouth as he gazed down at Erica as she slept unaware. “I know. I never wanted to interfere with their progress; it's bad for the heart. But we have to do something...for everyone we left behind. I don't want our experience to have all been for nothing.”

They spent a good time like this, both peaceful and melancholic. Neither of them really wanted to talk about the past, or the future, so they talked about everything else. Shapes the fog made, names for various Heartless that wandered below them, the finer points of practical architecture...stuff like that. Finally, the Seer passed the girl over to his Rogue without waking her. He stood and stretched, as if he were about to break for lunch.

“Take care of her, maybe show her around Derse. Don't...start anything just yet. I think it might be best for her to understand first, since she's not a hero yet.”

The Rogue nodded. “I understand.”

“Good.” He cracked a wry smile. “I'm going to go take a look around, plan my next move. If you need anything, text me.”

“Alright, good luck...Seer.”

With one sure step, the Seer dropped off the roof at a frightening speed. On he had fallen a few meters he slowed his descent to a gentle glide as he disappeared into the mist. The Rogue shook his head wistfully, opening another portal to a deep purple cityscape.

“That guy's such an idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can say with absolute certainty that if I had unlimited power I would play it up every chance I got. Most of the time as the hero or enigmatic trickster, but if given the chance there's no way I could pass up playing a villain (even if it's just pretend)! It's bound to backfire, sure, but it makes for a more interesting story than just saying 'hey, wanna die for unlimited power and help me eliminate unexistence??' That already sounds suspicious, may as well have fun with it.


	3. Scene 3

A hand touched her shoulder and her eyes immediately blinked open. The room was so purple that it was difficult to distinguish the furniture...every shade from ocher to royal violet. From what she could see though, every object around her was from her room. It was just all painted purple, like it belonged to a princess with a love of anime. Erica didn't panic. It had felt very real, but most dreams did for her. And something told her that she was undoubtedly dreaming.

The girl sat up and saw a boy her age standing in front of a rectangular hole that served as a window. It definitely wasn't a part of her room, and just passed the boy's shoulder she could see the spires of a purple city. The boy was masked and wearing all black, and he sort of struck Erica as a ninja or an assassin. He must have been the one who'd 'woken' her.

“Er...” The syllable tumbled out of her mouth unwarranted. If this was a dream, then why was this scenario creeping her out so much? “Can I help you?”

“Um, hi.” He shifted, like he was equally uncomfortable with the situation. The next words he spoke were a bit hurried, like he wasn't sure what to start with and just wanted to get it over with. “I'm, er- I'm not allowed to tell you my name. You can call me Rogue.”

“Oo-kay.” She wasn't sure whether to get up or not, so she pulled her legs up and sat straighter as a compromise. “I'm Erica.”

“I know.” Rogue looked away and ran a hand down his face, realizing that was a very suspicious thing to say. “N-Never mind. Look, there's a lot we need to talk about, and I think it would be a lot better not cooped up in your room. So, you want to...come outside and explore Derse with me?”

“Huh?”

Erica looked around more closely: there weren't any doors. Meanwhile, Rogue was stepping up onto the windowsill. In the next moment, he had dropped out of sight. Fear sweeping up her spine, Erica jumped out of bed and ran to the window.

“Ro-!”

The vibrant city spread out in all directions, fields of violet towers and vaguely gothic architecture reached as far as her eyes could see. Above was a midnight sky, not a cloud in it, making the world feel trapped in an eternal starless night. None of the buildings came even close to where she was, making the girl suddenly feel a bit faint at the dizzying height her room had been perched. Just below the black-garbed figure floated, as if the very air supported him. He rose up to her eye-level, gesturing to the empty space beneath him.

“It's okay, anyone can fly on Derse. Just step out and I'll show you.”

Erica hesitated, glancing down. The nearest rooftop looked to be miles below. She shook her head. If this was really a dream, then of course she could fly! A part of her mind couldn't help accepting that, so why should the rest of her feel afraid? Gingerly, she hung a foot out. Then, before her common sense could get the better of her, she stepped out...

...and didn't fall. Instead, Erica felt the weight lift from her body as she floated freely. It was only now that she noticed that she was wearing magenta pajamas, with silvery-white trim and an ethereal crescent moon on the chest, but this fact was well eclipsed by her new-found ability. She couldn't help smiling excitedly. Rogue, growing more at ease, smiled back.

“Want to try flying around for a bit?”

She nodded eagerly. The uneasiness she felt towards the boy, while it still remained in some part, was fading. He did _seem_ nice.

“Alright, see if you can follow me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Erica Karsath: Weeaboo Princess.
> 
> Writing her is a bit weird, especially since she's being introduced as a new character in a sea of previously established ones. Oh well, she's not the only one. It may seem reckless that Erica would just follow anyone in a strange situation, but she's been known to do that under similar circumstances... Plus, we need to keep the story moving at a pretty speedy pace.
> 
> So yeah, it would seem that Rogue is significantly worse at dealing with people as the Seer is. Who woulda known.


	4. Scene 4

They had finally made it to The World That Never Was. More specifically the group was currently roaming the Castle That Never Was, a massive white palace that towered over the onyx city and acted as Organization XIII's headquarters. The walls of the corridors were blindingly white, clinical like a particularly unforgiving hospital. A pattern like circuitry ran throughout the floor and walls, and often times parts were cut out at odd angles. It gave the place the feeling of a technological dystopia, and that put everyone on edge.

No adversaries had appeared yet, and though Alex knew exactly when and where their next battle was going to be, it troubled him more than a little that things hadn't been running according to schedule as of late. Thus, the boy didn't exude the confidence he normally did as he led the team through the eerie halls. Worse still, his sister's capture weighed heavily on his mind.

“So...Angel?”

“Hm?”

“You say you're Erica's friend...” Alex started. He didn't want to dig into the wound any deeper, but the thought itched at him. “Did she ever say anything about me?”

“Um...” the girl stammered. “We talk a lot, but I don't think she said anything beyond the fact that she _had_ a brother. She might have called you annoying for some reason or another, though. You know how siblings are.”

“Oh...” He slowed down to a walk and then stopped, hands shaking in self-loathing. “I've just been thinking...I feel like a failure as a brother. I wasn't able to protect her, when it matter. And heck, when I started this adventure I completely forgot about her!”

The others got quiet, unsure how to comfort him. Sora walked up to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder, forcing Alex to turn back to them. “Hey man, it's not your fault. It's not like you came here on purpose, and we had no way of knowing what had happened to your world.”

“Besides,” Angelina spoke up, joining their side, “I couldn't protect her either. If you're useless, then...I'm just as bad.”

Alex stood silently. He didn't want to show it, but he was touched. The pit of guilt in his stomach still lay like a rock, but the kind words of his friends were heartening. He sniffed and rubbed his face hurriedly with his arm to hide the emotion he was feeling. “Thanks, guys... Sorry, this whole this has been hard on-!”

He quickly pushed them aside, Lockshield jumping into his outstretched arm at the sight of the magenta-robed figure that had suddenly appeared behind them. Alex's eyes hardened at the sight, a cold rage glowing in their depths.

“Seer! Where- What have you done with my sister?”

The Seer held up his hands in mock defense, the hood perfectly hiding what must have been an amused expression. “Whoa, looks like I've caught you guys at a bad time! Look, I'm sorry about taking Erica, but you have my word that I haven't touched her.”

“And what makes you think we'd believe anything you have to say?” Sora challenged, bringing out his Keyblade in a brilliant flash of light.

“Yeah!” shouted Donald. “There's no way we'd trust you after you attacked us.”

“Alright, alright, I hear what you're saying!” the Seer defended, more modestly this time. “If I could bring Erica back right now I would, but only Rogue can do the spacy-thing. If you'll just hear me out, I promise I'll bring her with me, _completely unharmed_ , the next time we meet.”

Alex raised his shield more threateningly. “We are _not_ making any deals with you. You'll take me to my sister right now, or I'll-”

“You'll what?”

The threat, empty as it was, hung between the two like a taunt wire ready to snap. The Seer sighed, bringing out his shadowy scythe. “Fine. If you win, I'll bring you right to your sister no strings attached. But if _I_ win, everyone has to stay put when you all defeat Xemnas. Resist the urge to go back to your world, because the story isn't over yet. And, most importantly, you have to _listen_ to me when I get there. Like, you don't even have to agree with me, just hear my words. Does that sound alright?”

The boy glared. It most certainly _did not_ sound alright! But he nodded.

“Alright, then let's begin.” The Seer pulled out a short stick from thin air and pointed it to the four corners of the corridor, muttering, _“Protego totalum.”_

A shimmering screen quickly spread from the indicated points, instantly cutting Alex off from the rest of the group. Seeing the objection on the boy's face, the Seer added, “Well, this _is_ just a dual between the two of us. But don't worry; I'll make it easy for you.”

Alex glowered even more. “I don't need your pity.”

He ran at the robed man, bladed edge of the Lockshield barring the full power of his dark hatred, only to be met with utterly no resistance. The shield sunk itself deep into the Seer's abdomen, and though the pink robe acted more like chain-mail than cloth, Alex could feel he had hit something vital beneath the skin. Sure enough, a deep redness seeped to the surface and dripped down the silver edge onto the floor, making the Seer's entire frame shudder in pain. He choked, his words garbled through thick liquid (the implications of which Alex _did not_ want to think about in detail). Finally, the robed man slid off the weapon and fell heavily onto his wound, the redness spreading to the soles of the boy's shoes.

“W-Why?”

Alex's question remained unanswered, and behind the transparent barrier his friends couldn't bring themselves to speak. The silence stretched, though Alex could have sworn he could hear a beat in the back of his mind. Steady, like a heart beat, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, tick, tock tick, tock- no, like a heavy clock. A giant pendulum swinging back and forth, counting, judging. Judging what? He couldn't hear the sound with his ears, he wasn't even sure if he _was_ hearing it, but he could have sworn it was present none the less. And then…

It stopped.

A blue spark raced across the lifeless body, followed by green. His back hunched, like he was about to simply push himself up, but instead the Seer’s body rose about a foot into the air, arms still hanging limply. Blood continued to drip and pool onto the floor, but now the crimson ichor began to glow and change in color as the rainbow sparks increased in frequency. Glimmers of light in every color shone through, as though the Seer’s blood reflected the universe itself. On the young man’s chest, Alex could see the stain fading from the magenta fabric as the deadly wound knit itself together.

The Seer stretched and cricked his neck, lively smirk left visible to show that he had become his old self again. “Woo, honestly I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it that time! Universe-bending shenanigans are nerve-wracking like that.”

“How!” When Alex found breath to speak again he could only throw the word in accusation.

Instead of answering, the Seer simply walked up and held out his scythe to the boy. A mild pain blossomed in his chest and Alex blacked out immediately. When his vision cleared again, he found himself face down on the cold stain glass floor of the Station of Awakening. Sitting up, he could see the Seer some space away, watching.

“You were-!” He struggled with the word, so instead he asked, “Why would you make me do that?”

The hooded figure shrugged and shook his head in a sort of mock parental disappointment. “To prove a point. The way you are now, you’ll never beat me. And if you can’t beat someone who’s basically an immortal god, then you’ll never be ready for what’s next.”

“You, a god?” Alex got to his feet and managed a laugh, though it was fooling no one. He had seen what just happened, and it was hard to scoff at.

“More or less, yeah.”

The idea bothered the boy, it was absurd. He didn’t want to confront it just yet. “Well…you’ve got me. So, what are we doing here? …And come to think of it, how are we here? More of your _godly_ powers?”

A chuckle echoed from under the magenta brim. “If that’s the case, I’d mind the sass if I were you. You see, my full title is the Seer of Heart, which gives me some dominion over all hearts. Even yours. Here, I’ll give you a small sample of what I can do.”

The Seer flourished the scythe through the air with a twirl, landing the pointed butt of the handle squarely between two panes of stained glass beneath them. The entire station shuddered and quickly shattered, leaving Alex to flail helplessly as he plummeted into the void. At first he panicked, finding nothing to support him physically or emotionally. His acrophobia kicked in big time and it became difficult to catch his breath. The Seer’s voice started to reverberate around him, and it was only then that Alex realized that his descent had slowed. The fact didn’t comfort him very much.

“Y’know,” the Seer started leisurely. Though his voice could be heard clearly, the man was nowhere to be found. “That outburst about your sister, it reminded me of another time you had failed to protect her. Granted, you won’t remember it. That’s a relic from a timeline I’d rather steer clear of, but these events in particular strike a haunting similarity.”

A sharp pain pierced Alex’s chest, effectively distracting him from the nauseating weightlessness. Emotions blossomed in him, most distinctly a trickling sensation of fear. They were manufactured, as he could tell it was different from the fear he felt towards falling, but the feeling seemed authentic. It reminded him vividly of the moment he saw Erica disappear through the portal. He could almost see it happening all over again behind his eyelids, the sensation fresh.

The Seer continued speaking, as though they were chatting over cold drinks.

“Yeah, familiar isn’t it? The circumstances were nearly identical, so I’m not surprised. I acquired these emotions the last time I was here…in my timeline, that is. I asked that version of you – let’s call him _Alpha_ – if I could borrow them, just in case you needed a more serious wake up call. I can’t show you the exact memories (Time isn’t exactly _my_ area of expertise), but maybe you’ll see something anyway.”

Fear gradually dissolved into a dull resolve, mixed with guilt. This, Alex recognized, was what he was feeling right before the Seer showed up. He had to move on; wallowing in his feelings wasn’t going to do anyone any good. Especially not Erica. But it scared him how easily he could put aside his emotions and that brought about the guilt.

“Honestly, I don’t really blame you for this part,” the Seer chimed in, unwanted. “But I have to say, your conflict didn’t really show as well on the surface when Alpha Alex went through the same thing. Perhaps that was because by this point he was in the middle of his second adventure, and a little more reserved. After all he had to be a leader, and he had convinced himself that leaders don’t show emotion. Again, I blame neither of you really, but it’s not very strange when you add it up with all the other little things that put a strain between you and Erica. At that rate, it was only a matter of time before she betrayed you out of spite.”

A cold, debilitating ache winded him. It was a deep sorrow, mixed with a bit of fear. An image flashed against the blank screen of the boy’s mind: a girl in black, twisted with darkness. Quickly, the sorrow churned in his stomach and transformed into a burning emotion. Much like a sickness. It was a heavy blow, as Alex had little control over these feelings and struggled to figure out just where they were coming from. At the periphery of his mind a phrase repeated, like a heavy drum beat.

_How could you?_

Louder and louder.

**_How could you?_ **

Then came a feeling that Alex didn’t want to name. He wanted to throw up, and if this were a physical body he probably would have.

That unnamable emotion quickly faded into cold stone. He was numb, and somehow under it all Alex knew this was worse. There was no guilt, only detachment.

The Seer was quiet throughout, knowing words would be of no help. Only when the forced feelings were well and truly lifted did he speak again. “It took many years before you and your sister could even speak to each other properly again. I won’t stand here and claim that Erica was completely free from the consequences of her actions, but it was clear to me then that there was a dangerous disconnect between you two that manifested in the worst way possible.”

Alex had now regained his sense of self and saw that the station had been restored. His feet were safely on the ground. He coughed, “Wh- what was the point of showing me _that?_ ”

“In part, to erase the last trace of doubt in my abilities. Still don’t think I’m a god?” Alex made his displeasure very clear with a rude gesture, so the Seer quickly went on. “This is the least of what I’m trying to avoid in this timeline. Trust me when I say that everything you just went through is only a fraction of the real thing and I want to spare everyone of that ordeal, hopefully without depriving you of character if possible.”

The hooded man fell silent for a moment, putting his hands on his hips and sighing genuinely for perhaps the first time.

“Look, man, I’m really sorry for all the crap I’m putting you guys through. It will all make some sense pretty soon. Truth is, if you and Erica can communicate more honestly I think you two can put all the little things behind you before they start. And…I wish I could stick around long enough to help you guys with that part.”

Alex tried to stare through the hood, a curious look all over his face. It was like he was searching for the last piece of an obvious puzzle under that pink fabric. The answer to his biggest question was so close. “Who…who in the world _are_ you?”

It was impossible to see what the Seer was thinking, and Alex fully expected him to give another ridiculous half-answer. Instead, the man knelt forward and offered his hand. An…unusually slender hand for a man who had surely seen a lot of combat. From this position the boy could see more of his face: a strong, yet strangely feminine jaw line and blue Cheshire-cat eyes framed behind sharp rectangular lenses. Still, he had trouble placing these features. The Seer grabbed a hold of Alex’s outstretched arm and yanked the bewildered boy to his feet, whipping the hood off his own head as he did so.

“You- you’re…!”

“That’s right! I’ll take that as confirmation that you’ll agree to my terms. Now, if that’s settled I believe now would be a good time to let you…”

“Wake up!”

Alex opened his eyes to Donald’s jarring voice, which immediately made him wince. Everyone was chattering around him on the hard floor, a sensation the boy was sick to death of. Was it too much to ask to wake up in a bed once in a while? Joumae tuned in, and only then did he realize how odd it was that the voice wasn’t at the Station of Awakening with him.

_You okay, buddy? I couldn’t hear anything from you after that Seer guy did…whatever that was to you._

“I’m alright…” Alex muttered aloud, partially to reassure everyone else that couldn’t hear him. A face stood out to him out of his concerned friends: glasses, blue eyes…spiked yellow hair. Instinctively he reached out and pushed her back.

“Ow!”

“Did you know about this?” he asked, sounding more panicked than he meant to.

Angelina looked at him befuddled; surprised that Alex would shove her like that. “What, what are you talking about?”

“Yeah Alex, what happened between you and Seer?” asked Sora, a bit alarmed. “Why would you push Angel like that?”

“That’s right, there’s no way she would know…” The gears were turning in his head. Alex was talking more to himself than anyone else at this point. “He…no, she? The Seer mentioned a lot about different timelines, so there’s no way she would know…”

“Geez, what is it already?” snapped Angelina impatiently. “What does the Seer have to do with me?”

The boy looked at her with appraising eyes, like he was seeing the girl from a completely new angle.

“Angel…I think you _are_ the Seer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Seer is obviously using a sylladex to store his items (probable a wallet modus, so he doesn't have to deal with bullcrap). He also knows magic, as I had planned to send Angel off to interfere with Harry Potter around book three. There's no question he wouldn't know a lot of useful spells by now.
> 
> Another fight scene, this time with a lot more showing off and "in-dept" character analysis. I generally have very loose and flexible interpretations of Homestuck classpects, so a lot of times I feel that what any given class can be capable of in their field mostly just depends on their experience and how they feel a connection to their title. But overall I do like to keep things reigned in and in perspective according to whatever consistencies I find in the comic. Seer of Heart is a title I feel I relate too, mostly because of my introspective tendencies and my perchance for character analysis. I could be wrong about Heart, but I know for sure I would be a Seer of some sort!
> 
> That being said, this Seer is pretty active for his class huh? Well...active and passive are pretty relative, but maybe this is why things aren't working our for him when he takes highly active roles.
> 
> So, the whole sibling relationship foreshadowing thing. That alludes to the second installment in the Interference series where Erica (spoilers!) ends up becoming a Heartless (and subsequently a Nobody) due in part to her brother's negligence. Needless to say when we were young that whole event kind of rubbed us the wrong way, especially since Erica and Alex tended to butt heads a lot in real life. In fact, that dissatisfaction with her representation is what led us both to writing fanfictions like these. So go ahead and blame Alex for my crappy writing. ;^)
> 
> And, shock of all shocks, Angel might be the Seer!! ...is what I would be saying if I hadn't spoiled you guys in the first chapter. :^/


	5. Scene 5

The Rogue and Erica had decided to take a break on the rooftop, where the girl was perfectly content to watch the black-shelled denizens of Derse go about their business while she contemplated all the things she had been told. Every once in a while a carapacian would wave to her and she would giddily wave back. According to Rogue they were supposed to be ‘kind-of-sort-of enemies’, but at the same time they also treated the two of them as the moon’s mascots. They were sort of confusing like that, but it helped that they were also very adorable. This was because they were supposed to be heroes, or at least that was what she was told.

The full story so far seemed…complicated. Rogue tripped over his words constantly, having to restart over and over again when he realized he forgot a part. From what Erica could detangle, this was a dream within a game…within another game. Only it wasn’t really a dream, just a physical dream- _body_ being controlled on this totally real and physical dream-planet by her unconscious mind from thousands of miles away. Also not only were Erica and her brother destined to become heroes, but they were also beings called Interferences who could make fictional worlds real. Meanwhile, Erica’s brother Alex was running around in the Kingdom Hearts universe (which he had somehow _created_ through the power of…love, or something), and her real body was sleeping on one of the worlds there. Oh, and there was also something about time travel that the Rogue deemed ‘too confusing’ to get into now. Wonderful.

A shadow passed over them and it struck her as odd. Come to think of it, there hasn’t been a single cloud in the sky since she had gotten here. Erica looked up to see that the main planet (they were currently on Derse’s moon, which was connected to it by an enormous chain) had moved into position to eclipse the moon’s only meager light source. As she watched she could have sworn she heard the Rogue say something, only to realize that it was in an unfamiliar language. Voices, many whispering voices, like grasping, thorny tendrils seeking light wormed into her ear and she squirmed. And she understood.

“Ignore them.”

Rogue’s words snapped Erica’s attention away from the abyssal words. She shook her head. “Who are they?”

He pulled a tired face behind his mask. “They’re called Horrorterrors, or outer gods. Giant tentacle monsters that live a ways out from here: far enough that by the time their voices reach Derse we can barely hear them. Though really, you wouldn’t want to hear them any louder than that. You’d, er…kind of die.”

“Die?”

“Or go insane.”

Erica frowned. Both at the thought of tentacle monsters and at their words. “They said they wanted help.”

“Trust me, they’re being helped enough.” The Rogue looked skyward and narrowed his eyes, like he wanted to make sure the outer gods were watching. “I was the one who pulled them out of their doomed timeline, in exchange for information. You and everyone else will take care of their last threat, which is pretty much a win-win. Anything else they ask you to do however…well, I wouldn’t listen to them. We never found out what their real motives are, and I’ve never found them to be totally trustworthy.”

“Oh…”

“I mean,” he continued, “I guess if you _really_ want to, one of you can keep tabs on them and act from there. But in the grand scheme of things, they don’t really matter. They’re just…there.”

“… _Oo_ -kay.”

He breathed out a nervous laugh, probably realizing that the mood was getting just as dark as the sky. Just at that moment the eclipse passed and the voices went away with it. The Rogue stood up.

“Alright, let’s make a stop.”

“Where to?” Erica stretched. She felt relieved that the shadow was no longer over them, though the thought of far off monsters still made her wonder.

Rogue stepped off the roof and started flying towards a tall spire; similar to the one Erica was sleeping in. “We’re going to see your brother…kind of.”

“Oh…” Her voice drooped a little at that. She had wanted this to be her adventure for a little longer.

After passing over many rooftops (and waving at many more chess people) they had reached the brother’s window sill. Like Erica’s room, this place mimicked Alex’s room from back home, only in purple. And again like her room, it came with a fancy four-post bed with orbs on each post. Alexander lay asleep beneath the covers, wearing a similar set of purple pajamas that she was (he had oddly-spiked hair, but it was definitely him). Or perhaps, not asleep. Like Erica’s body, this was probably just an empty shell until the real Alex fell asleep. The thought sent shivers down her spine. It was very disorienting.

“Will he…wake up?” Erica honestly wasn’t sure what the proper term for this sort of situation would be.

“I suppose you could try shaking him, if you want,” offered the Rogue with a sort of half-laugh.

She shook her head firmly. “No…thanks.”

“So no, Alex’s dream-self hasn’t woken up here like yours has. Hopefully by the time we’re ready to meet them, his dream-self and everyone else here will be ready to wake up. Then we can get started on making sure you all make godtier.”

Erica watched her brother’s face, which was more peaceful than what she was used to seeing at home. This kind of confirmed all the more for her that this body wasn’t exactly connected to his mind just yet. She had heard Rogue say the term before, godtier. It sounded synonymous with hero, but more specific. He had also mentioned that the reason his outfit was so different was because he had already made it to godtier, and that it gave him all kinds of crazy space powers.

“Hey Rogue, what exactly does it take to become a godtier?”

“Oh, uh…” Rogue looked away. This was the part he had dreaded talking about the most. “Well, first we have to find your Quest Bed and then, uh…”

“Yeah?”

“…You’ll have to die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If someone ever asks me what the fuck this story's about I'll direct them to the second paragraph. Shenanigans in time and space, that's what this is about.
> 
> I admit that I'm still pretty hazy on certain aspects of Derse, Prospit, and dream selves in general, so feel free to correct whatever you want (but I did read the hell out of their wiki pages before writing!). I've always been especially confused about how flying was supposed to work. Like...does it only work because gravity is less on Derse/Prospit? I kind of doubt it, because their flight is too controlled to just be weightless, and all of the other planets have similar properties including gravity. It could be just that dream bodies are just made to fly, but then why wouldn't the alpha kids be able to continue flying after being revived via dream selves? Unless we just never see it? Or the ability just goes away after revival, or just when off those particular planets? It's shown that kids only seem to be able to fly while either actively dreaming or after turning godtier...is there something I'm missing? Does any of it actually matter? Probably not.
> 
> Erica says 'oh' a lot in this chapter and Rogue talks about death and brings everyone down.


	6. Scene 6

Empty, that was the only word to describe it. Even the way the pines were spaced away from each other reflected this, leaving the weak light of twilight just enough room to illuminate small patches of the forest floor. But the lone girl, standing amidst the tree trunks like she belonged to the woods, could hardly perceive such an idea. Looking inward was enough for her, but there wasn’t much to see there. An empty heart in an empty forest…it would have been poetic, if she had the ability to appreciate such things.

Memories tempted her mind, just at the edge of consciousness. Every memory from her worthless former life was at her disposal, but she didn’t want to touch them. They gave her something almost close to a feeling and it was never a pleasant one. For now, there was no reason to bother with such uncomfortable things.

A twig snapped. The girl felt no inclination to turn her head to it. It was only when the man was right in front of her did she bother to process his image. Pink and familiar.

“Right, one problem to nip right in the bud. Good to know that not everything has to be complicated.”

A black weapon appeared in the man’s hands. She felt her body freeze up of its own accord. Self preservation, it must have been.

“Sorry, Nobody,” the man continued. “Nothing personal. Well, not yet anyway.”

He took a swing and the girl suddenly felt something heavy in her hands. Without question, she brought her new weapon up into the path of the oncoming blade, but unfortunately it was immediately flung from her grasp. Next moment, the curved scythe was to her throat and beginning to cut.

“Oh, you have a bit of fight in you already!” he laughed. The brilliant white of his teeth looked extremely foreign to the girl. “How expected of you…wait, what’s that?”

The girl had raised a shaking hand to the blade, letting it cut into her palm as she pushed. The emotion, the very one she avoided, grew in the pit of her stomach like a sticky, dark and vile substance. It showed in her trembling limbs and gleamed in her eyes and it transformed her passive face into a contorted mask. She hated, with the very core of her being, everything in her range. She hated this forest, she hated these feelings and memories, and she even hated herself. But more than anything did she hate this man.

His eyes widened in disbelief. “So you’re… Aw man, I’ve made a grave mistake.”

The man released her, swiftly striking her in the head before she could attack. She went down. He sighed.

“Geez…I hope her memory is as terrible as the last guy’s.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Nobody was going to come around eventually in Before the Afterwards, but we're coming to it at a different angle here. I'll explain more later.


	7. Scene 7

The adventure was over. A rowdy group of teens were cheering and laughing and hugging each other, still drenched in sunny ocean water. The enchanted outfits did their best to dry them, but they shivered at the shocking chill of the sea anyways. Though the final battle had been horrendous, the young heroes felt more energetic than ever. Just about everyone had finally been reunited, so who could blame them?

They each waded to the sandy beaches of Destiny Island, where the informal celebration commenced. Along with the original five they were joined by Kairi, Riku, King Mickey, and (most unexpectedly) Axel, not including the four disembodied voices who could now converse between most everyone easily. Thirteen in all, the group chatted and caught up with each other until everyone became more content to watch the sunset in silence. It was a bit hard to believe how peaceful things could be, so it itched at Alex that it wasn’t going to last. The Seer had promised to arrive soon after the game had ended. But still, even though he longed to see his sister safe, the boy couldn’t help wanting to put it off just to watch Sora reconnect with his long lost friends.

Then it was over. Out of the corner of his eye, Alex spotted it first. A heavy wooden door had appeared where there was none before and he had an inkling of what it was. By this time everyone else had spotted it.

“Hey Alex,” Sora started, “you don’t suppose…?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah. I think that’s our exit.”

“You’re not thinking of leaving, are you?”

Behind them stood the Seer and the Rogue, with an open portal between them. Nobody was overly surprised, including the newcomers who had been brought up to speed. The Seer had his hood down, so now everyone could see his perfectly-styled yellow spikes and trademark spectacles. The man certainly had a striking similarity to one Angelina de Castellano. The Rogue had also taken off his mask and hood, revealing a young boy with a rather delicate-looking face and long silver hair tied in a sweeping ponytail. No one recognized him in the slightest.

“Seer, where’s Erica!” Alex shouted. Everything else could wait.

“I’m right here, you dummy!”

And so she was, climbing out of the portal with Rogue helping her. Fully conscious and perfectly unharmed. Before anyone could stop him, Alex took a few big steps and wrapped an arm around Erica, pulling her into a hug and to a safe distance while he summoned his Lockshield with his other arm.

“Alex, what-!”

“It’s okay,” he said, though his voice held anger, “I’m just making sure that Seer doesn’t try anything!”

The Seer made a noise and pulled an exaggerated expression. “ _Oh_ my god! Do you really still trust me so little? And, more importantly, do you _really_ still believe you could stop me if I wanted to do something?”

There was a tense silence as Alex stood his ground, remembering how thoroughly he had been beaten by this guy…twice. The Seer motioned for the boy to put away his weapon, and after some hesitation he conceded.

“There,” said the Seer. He addressed Erica first. “Sorry, I forgot to mention that we sort of kidnapped you and used you as extortion against your brother. Not for real of course, I’d never hurt you, but it sort of…came across that way, in hindsight.”

Erica just watched him from behind her brother in confusion. She had only just met the guy a few minutes ago, but already he was way more of a mysterious weirdo than Rogue was.

“But seriously, we held up our side of the promise,” he continued. “You could at least listen to what we have to say now, right?”

Alex looked back at the rest of the group, seeing that they were equally unsure. He asked the Seer, “Can I ask the questions?”

The man shrugged. “Sure.”

“Well then…” He bit his lip. “Who are you? Why do you look like Angel? Unless, are you actually a sh-?”

“Whoa, whoa, let’s not start with that assumption!” Seer held his hands up and waved the pesky question off, looking mildly irritated. He patted his chest with an open palm, demonstrating how flat it was. “Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat; I’m a man and I am definitely a ‘he’. I even have the scars to prove it.”

That outburst made Alex pause. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. “So you’re saying you’re…?”

“You’re not me?”

Angelina finally spoke up, stepping into the conversation next to Erica. The two had been quietly reunited while the discussion was taking place, Erica noting that it had been hard to recognize her old friend with such a crazy new hairstyle. At the moment Erica was looking between the two of them, eyes widening in realization at their similarities.

“Well,” he hesitated, “I never said I wasn’t.”

After another awkward silence, Sora voiced everyone’s thoughts. “I’m confused, how are you Angel if you’re…?”

The Seer sighed heavily, mentally preparing himself for a lengthy explanation. “Okay, let me just answer Alex’s first question. My name’s Emilio, or Emil, and I’m from way down in the alpha timeline. Or, to make it more clear, I’m from the future. Your guys’ future, which is very much in trouble.

“The reason I look like Angelina is because I was her, and I guess I still am. I’m just a lot older for one, twenty-one to be exact, and at some point I…well, we don’t really need to go into _all_ the details. Suffice to say, one day I realized I was a boy, changed my name, and the rest is history.”

Sora was still very befuddled. “But…how can we be sure you’re really who you say you are? How can someone be a girl one day and become a totally different guy the next?”

The Seer (or Emil) pulled his mouth into a thin line. Clearly, he had expected that Sora wouldn’t get it. He tugged on the pink cotton over his chest. “Well, I could show you my surgery scars but this isn’t exactly a shirt… Um, we could try this: come over here, Key!”

Rogue appeared by his side and Emil grabbed his hand. Upon being touched, the silver-haired boy dissolved into a fine silver mist. When he reformed the bone and silver Skeleton Key rested in the Seer’s hand, which he swung around out of habit.

Acknowledging the group’s confusion, he explained, “At some point in my journey, the Skeleton Key formed his own consciousness like Joumae did here. Only difference was he got his own body. Well, that and he looks _nothing_ like me.”

“My name is, unoriginally, Key,” a slightly metallic voice sounded. If one looked closely, they could see the Rogue’s image reflected on the surface of the skull-like blade. “I do errands for Emil when he doesn’t need to fight anyone seriously. We’ve been partners for…what, eight years?”

Emil nodded. “When he’s busy, I use a replica scythe to fight and channel my magic. It’s not nearly as good, but it works.”

Alex had a hand to his chin, brows knitted in contemplation. “Well, there aren’t many people who can use these weapons, and Angel’s the only one we know with a Skeleton Key.”

“Plus,” he added, “this would be an insanely convoluted ruse to pull off if it weren’t true.”

“Still,” Alex held up a hand, “I’d rather be certain. Angel, can you check it out? You should know the weapon best.”

The girl nodded, becoming increasingly weird-ed out by the whole thing. She approached the weapon, touching the ivory handle. She closed her eyes, summoning her own Skeleton Key into her other hand for comparison. Then, when she didn’t seem satisfied with that, she placed a hand on the Seer’s exposed arm.

“It’s…the same,” Angelina concluded. “The magical energy, the composition, the alignment…all the same, except that it’s stronger.”

“Are you sure?” Alex inquired.

She shook her head slightly. “There are a lot of things I can’t account for, which I assume are things I _could_ have gotten in the future. But the baseline is exactly the same.”

“Um…”

Erica spoke up, drawing closer to the would-be clones. “Angel, I think he’s telling the truth.”

Angelina gaped a little at her friend’s proclamation. “But…how can you be sure?”

“True,” added Emil. He gestured between himself and Angelina. “You don’t exactly have ‘seeing’ powers, that’s our department.”

The girl shook her head, growing a bit annoyed. “I _know_ that! I know I don’t have any powers, and I have _no_ idea what’s going on, but I just get a feeling that you’re telling the truth, Emil. I can’t help feeling that you’re just as much of my friend as, as…this idiot!”

The two were a bit stunned by that, as well as anyone in the general area. Erica held her arms open, gesturing to both of them for a hug. She seemed very sure about it, and that made Emil smile just a bit. Much to the accusatory glare of Alex, Emil and Angelina conceded and the three of them hugged it out. It was pretty sweet.

Once the moment had passed, Emil broke away and cleared his throat to distract from his newfound embarrassment. He returned Key to his human form before continuing, “Erm, yes well, you don’t _all_ have to believe me about my identity, but I would advise that you at least listen to the reason I came here.”

Alex raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Which is…?”

“Well, you remember when I said the future’s in trouble? Yeah, it’s pretty much that. We – that is, future-you-guys – have run into a destructive force that even we can’t fully comprehend.”

“What is it?” asked Sora, who all this time had still been working out the gender dilemma.

“That’s just it,” shrugged Emil, “we can’t comprehend it! I’ve never even run into it myself, just its after effects and trust me. We can’t touch this thing, even with four gods on our side. And at the rate it was going, it was going to wipe out all of existence in _every_ universe, including the ‘real’ one.

“So, Alpha Alex (the Alex from our timeline, of course) sent us back in time with his abilities. Let me tell ya, being a god really agreed with the time-travel powers you already had, but that’s a story for another time.”

Alex looked like he sorely wanted to question this point, but Emil held up a hand. He wasn’t finished.

“But anyway, turns out that sending anyone back _this_ far in time was going to be too much for more than a couple of people, so we resolved to make this a one-way trip.” The Seer directed his gaze to the ground, continuing in a more solemn tone. “He had to completely destroy the alpha timeline in order to ensure that whatever changes we made here would stick. That timeline doesn’t exist anymore, and everyone there with it. Key and I…we can’t go back there so, please, we have to make this work.”

The group of thirteen heroes looked to one another, each with their own opinion but unsure which should prevail. Sora, ever the true leader, stepped forward.

“I only speak for myself, but what can I do to help?”

Before Emil could answer, another voice joined him.

“Sora, you always follow your heart,” King Mickey assured. “Whatever you decide, I’m sure your friends will follow.”

Kairi nodded, taking Riku by the arm and joining her friend’s side. “This time, I want to be by your side. I’m sure Riku feels the same, right?”

The teen was a bit put off by the contact, but he nodded. “Yeah…it’s time I stepped out from the shadows. We’ll do this together, Sora.”

Erica turned to Angelina, jerking her head at the time travelers. “I know they kind of kidnapped me, but that Key guy showed me some things. I’m sure they’re telling the truth, and…well, I want to go on an adventure too!”

Her friend laughed. “Yeah…honestly, I wish you could have gotten here sooner. And really, I can’t exactly argue with…myself, I guess?”

Axel looked around and shrugged his lanky shoulders. “Sure, why the hell not. Might as well put this new heart to some good use.”

For those who could hear them, Joumae, Roxas, and Naminé each voiced their agreement. The ghost residing inside of Riku remained silent, but no one would have taken his advice anyway. Alex stood with his arms crossed, a little baffled that everyone was agreeing so fast.

“…You sure went through a lot of trouble just to ask for our help, Seer. What’s the catch?”

Emil gave a serious nod. “I understand your hesitation. To help us each of you will need to become gods like us, and with that comes a sacrifice. But…I think it would be better to show you what we have in mind first hand, and then you can still back out if you want.”

“And we can beat this mysterious threat once we’re gods?”

“Oh not at all,” he said with a smirk. “Godhood is only the beginning.”

Alex looked at his companions. He was outvoted. “…Alright. We’ll go with you, just to see what’s in store for us.”

An exaggerated sigh came from the back of the group.

“Another adventure already?” complained Donald. “I’m not sure I have it in me.”

“Come on, Donald,” Goofy encouraged. “I’m sure being gods could be pretty cool!”

Emil looked away awkwardly. “Oh, about that…you two won’t be needed.”

“What!” Donald squawked. “Why not?”

The man tapped the rim of his glasses knowingly. “The system was only set up to accommodate certain people, one’s who had the inherit potential to become gods. My ability to see into people’s hearts gives me some insight into that and I’m sorry but…you two don’t have that potential.”

“That’s outrageous! What makes you so sure tha-!”

Goofy puts a hand over his beak, silencing him. “Well, that is pretty disappointing, but if Mr. Seer says so then there’s nothin’ we can do about it.”

“Key will be sure to escort the two of you home. Oh! But first, let me introduce two players who _will_ be going with you…”

The Seer stepped aside and pulled someone forward by the shoulders, a young girl who no one had noticed was standing behind them this entire time. And from the zombie-like way she moved, it was no wonder she was unnoticeable. The girl had short-cropped black hair, an orange-and-black outfit that made her suitable for Halloween Town, and a dead, blank expression on her face. Axel recognized the phenomenon immediately.

“She’s…a Nobody!”

Emil pointed at him and gave a sparkling wink. “Correct! Okay, let’s explain this bit real quick, because this mess is getting complicated. This girl’s name is Negalinax, anyone care to guess who she belongs to?”

After a moment of thought, there was a slight gasp in the audience. It was fairly easy to figure out: few had a name that long.

“It’s…my Nobody,” Angelina acknowledged, coming closer to examine her. “I suspected as much. When I turned into a Heartless briefly, that must have been enough but…I honestly didn’t believe I was strong enough to create a Nobody.”

“Wow, you’re all on fire today,” Emil commented. “I took the trouble to pick her up before anyone else could. In my timeline, Negalinax became…well, in short the worst thorn in my side I’ve ever had. But, I believe in second chances. Nobodies aren’t inherently bad, and when I saw the potential for godtier in her I had to take the shot. And, speaking of redeeming Nobodies…”

Out came the Skeleton Key once again, and this time it was pointed squarely at Erica’s heart.

“Erica, will you allow me the chance to provide the team with its last hero?” Sensing that Alex was about to object, he snapped, “Alex, this is _her_ decision. …It will only hurt a little, and I’ll leave your psyche untouched. You don’t have to turn into a Heartless. Trust me, I’m an expert.”

Erica hesitated, flinching at the scythe’s tip. “Was she also…?”

“A bad guy? _Oh_ yes. But in this stage Nobodies are pretty impressionable. I believe you all can raise these two into the people they were meant to be.”

“…Alright, I trust you.”

A bright pink light shown from the blade and pierced Erica’s chest, but instead of burning her it was simply absorbed into her heart. However she did gasp and grit her teeth, trying not to let the pain show and failing. A wave of dizziness overcame her as unfamiliar, dark emotions coursed through. And then as soon as it began, it was over.

“Well?” he asked with care, like a mother watching their child go through their first shot. “How are you feeling?”

Erica shook her head. “I feel…foggy. Like someone else is watching, through my eyes.”

“Wonderful, we’ll get rid of that effect momentarily. Now, it’s high time we move on!”

Emil pulled a satchel out, seemingly from thin air. From underneath the open flap, an obnoxiously sparkly power could be seen within.

“I got these sleeping majyyks from a good friend of mine,” he explained, raising up a fistful of glimmering pink. “Honestly, this would have been much easier to use instead of violence, but hey what can you do. Once you start dreaming, just fly out the window and find one of us, okay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UGH NO the exposition scene! I mean I did my best to make it at least entertaining, but that was a lot more standing around and talking than I'm comfortable with writing...as unavoidable as it was. Heck, I'm pretty sure some characters took a hit just to spare us from useless bickering. Anyway, things have now become at least three times more complicated and we HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN DISCUSSING GODTIER MECHANICS HOLY CRAP. I have, mercifully, saved that for other scenes.
> 
> Ahaha and we finally discuss the trans thing! I didn't want to make it a whole thing, but I was sure it would come up. And I was double sure that Sora would have no idea what to make of it.
> 
> Oh, and Nobodies. We got both Angel's and Erica's (Alex never got one for reasons) and over the years they became the biggest villains in the original timeline. I included them because...well I wanted an even fourteen godtiers to play with and I tried to have as many of them be original characters as possible. Plus an entire switch-around in their characters could be pretty interesting. Since Nobodies are made through becoming Heartless, as a hero of Heart Emil was able to remove Erica's heart for just a second, isolate the Nobody inside of her, and return her heart before anything bad could happen. I acknowledge that in Homestuck Heart is more akin to Soul or better yet Identity rather than some mysterious "power of love" force, but come on. When these powers are translated through the rosy-lens of Kingdom Hearts, there's no way it wouldn't mean all that too!


	8. Scene 8

Alex woke up moments later to his new purple bedroom. Before he could adjust to his surroundings (just when he got a look at his ridiculous new getup), a girl’s voice broke into his thoughts.

“Oh hey, you’re awake!”

There was Erica, perched on the boy’s windowsill where she had last dreamed here. Strangely Rogue was no longer there, but Alex was never aware of his presence.

“What- where is this?” he asked. “And what are you doing here?”

Erica smirked. She couldn’t help it; it wasn’t often that she knew more about all the strangeness than her brother did. “We’re on Derse’s moon. It’s…like a dream planet-thingy, Rogue- I mean Key, told me all about it. We’re dreaming right now.”

Alex took a moment to absorb that. “Well…I _guess_ weirder things have happened today? I’m not even sure what’s going on anymore, to be honest.”

“Come on,” she offered, floating out the window to demonstrate their dream-like abilities. “We’re supposed to fly out of here and find Key. I’ll show you.”

He walked over to the window and immediately had to back up when he looked down. Seeing that there was no door out, he gulped. “Don’t suppose we can walk there…”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Not really. You won’t fall, trust me. It’s just as easy as walking. Close your eyes, I’ll lead you.”

He did as she told him, a bit begrudgingly. Alex felt his sister grab his hand and tug him to the window, which he resisted at first. This next part was the hardest. He could feel just where the sill ended, and that knowledge made his stomach churn. However, he still refused to open his eyes, knowing that the sight would just make him needlessly dizzy. Erica gently pulled him out to the first step into open air and he very nearly panicked. His breathing was beginning to become erratic, but he managed to hold it together enough to realize he wasn’t falling, despite the lack of footing beneath.

“You doing okay?” Alex heard her ask.

He shook his head fervently. “But I’ll be okay until I get to the ground.”

“Can you open your eyes?”

“Not a chance.”

She muffled a giggle. He could tell she was just teasing, but it still stung. “Alright, ya big baby. I’ll tell you when we’re about to reach the ground.”

And so, the two descended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene is cute, in no small part because it's one of the few where Erica is in a position of power when Alex isn't. Not that either one of them in particular SHOULD be in power, I want them to eventually reach the state of equals, but it's refreshing.


	9. Scene 9

“Ah, good! Our last hero has arrived.”

Angelina had finally caught up with the rest of the gold-pajama-ed entourage after searching for half an hour amongst the brightly lit spires. It was a difficult search, even by air, when everything was gold-on-gold-on-gold and white chess people wandered about. She felt she had to squint through everything just to see what was in front of her.

Except for the Seer, every member of the group had an individual set of gold-silk clothes with a crescent moon on the chest. This included people she expected to see, like Sora, Kairi, and King Mickey. However she didn’t expect to see Roxas and Naminé, who were just figments in Sora and Kairi’s mind, respectively. Seeing Roxas in the flesh was an especially weird feeling. She had known for a while that he was still alive in Sora’s heart, but no one thought that he would ever have his own separate body again.

“Roxas?”

“Yeah, isn’t this great?” agreed Emil, almost brimming with enthusiasm. “As I was about to explain to everyone, this place is called Prospit. Right now we’re on Prospit’s moon, and each of you is controlling your dream-self while you sleep. Because Roxas and Naminé are considered to be separate consciousnesses, they each get their own bodies, which I’ll admit, makes it very easy to demonstrate the godtier process. Come, I’ll explain more on the way down.”

Before any of them could really wrap their heads around that, a bright light shown in the sky. Strangely, Angelina didn’t find it blinding to look at like the sun. Instead there was a great blue marble, taking up most of the sky. As it approached closer, fluffy white clouds drifted by. Some of these clouds took oddly distinct shapes, such as a cat, a horned figure, and a…was that a pumpkin? But most interesting were clouds that flashed with images of times and places she hardly knew of. Some few depicted scenes from her adventure, places and people she recognized, but most of the things she saw were strange and flashed by too fast to make sense of.

When it ended and the blue sphere passed, the Seer took the reins before anyone even had to ask. “That was Skaia, the center of this little solar system. It’s kind of like the sun, but better. Skaia knows everything, and the visions in the clouds can be anything from the past to the future. Most of the time it’s pretty relevant, so I always bother to take a look when it comes around.”

“Gosh,” whispered the king in awe. “It’s no wonder you act like such a know-it-all!”

Emil narrowed his eyes, but he couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not, sire.”

“How often does it come around?” asked Kairi.

“I…have no idea. I’ve never bothered to track it, since I’ve only ever been here in my sleep before.”

“Are…you asleep now?” Sora wasn’t sure what to ask first.

“No,” Emil answered. “I’m the only person here in my real body. My dream-self wasn’t needed after I went godtier. Now come on, we need to get to the center of the moon.”

He kicked off the ground and started floating away, prompting the rest to follow him. By this time they were all used to flying.

Angelina lagged a bit behind with Roxas and Naminé. She wasn’t sure if they wanted to be left alone, but it had been so long since she had seen either of them.

“Um,” she started unoriginally, “it’s good to see you guys again.”

Roxas gave her a look, but broke into a nervous laugh. “Yeah… It’s been a really weird day for us.”

“How’s it like being…” Angelina gestured at the two childhood friends floating some ways ahead, “well, that?”

They looked at each other and just sort of shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess. We always have someone to talk to.”

Naminé nodded subtly. “It has been nice getting to know Kairi…and if not, we can still speak to one another.”

There was a pause. Roxas pinched one of his arms. It certainly felt real.

“I _do_ miss having my own body,” he admitted. “I was getting a bit used to living in Sora’s heart, but coming here reminds me a little too much of-”

“Alright!” Emil interrupted loudly from way up front. Below him, where his finger was pointed, lay a massive gold-paved stairwell. It tunneled so deep into the moon’s surface that all they could see was black. “We’re going down, kids. Let us descend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the next few scenes we just switch between Prospit and Derse, in what is hopefully the best way to divide the information without becoming repetitive. I honestly have no idea how anyone gets to the sacrificial slabs at the center of the moons, so I made up a path.
> 
> Angel hasn't had much time to talk to Roxas after she watched him die that one time, so they're pretty awkward about it.


	10. Scene 10

Alex’s fears weren’t lifted by much when his party had reached the stairs. They were led by Key, along with Riku, Axel, and Angelina’s Nobody, Negalinax. Two others had surprised him, namely Joumae, his own darkish counterpart that served as the Lockshield’s spirit. He looked nigh identical to Alex, which was exactly as he remembered the voice in previous encounters, and this sent Erica reeling with questions. She had assumed he was also a Nobody, though that was an easy mistake to make.

Speaking of Nobodies, Erica’s had also cropped up somewhere on Derse. According to Key, her name was supposed to be Craixe. She looked very similar to his sister, but…darker? Was that the right word? He decided not to worry about her for now, as the Nobody seemed to be just as helplessly void of will as Negalinax. The two of them where currently mindlessly following the Rogue down the inky black stairwell like lemmings.

In all honesty, the whole thing made for a good distraction as Alex clung to the wall as un-pathetically as possible, descending one step at a time. He had found on the surface that he could handle the idea of flying as long as he thought of it like extended hi-jumps. If there was an easy landing in sight, the anxiety would quiet. But here, however, the ground seemed miles away. Just about everyone else had taken to flying down next to him, but he could tell that they would be along a lot farther if they didn’t have to wait for him. He hated it, the feeling that he was dead weight.

“So, what is it we’re supposed to find, anyway?” asked Joumae, rather easily taking Alex’s position as primary questioner. “How is this whole god-thing supposed to work?”

“Oh, well…” Key flustered. He didn’t seem to be nearly as competent with people as his partner did. “We’re not really here for _everyone’s_ ascension. Just yours and Craixe’s.”

Axel glanced at the three mentioned, gesturing between them. “Because they’re…not real? Er, I mean don’t have bodies? But why, what’s the point?”

“Well…” he hesitated, “I’m not sure if I remember all of it right, but yeah it’s because the only bodies they have exist here. Because the rest of you have two, one here and one out there, you all will have to use what Emil calls the ‘standard method’. This other way is more of a last resort…there’s a lot to explain there, I’m not sure I can make any sense of it myself. Something to do with multiple lives and pre-destination…stuff like that.”

Nobody really got it. Erica remembered what he had said before. “Didn’t you say something about having to die in order to become heroes?”

Key turned to give her a look. He knew he had to say something about it eventually, but he had wanted to avoid it a bit longer. “Yeah, that’s a thing that’s going to happen.”

“Are you serious?” questioned Joumae. “Because honestly, I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not.”

“Of course I’m being serious!” Key snapped. He sighed and tried to save it with, “But, I mean, you’ll only be dead for a little bit.”

“…Does that make sense to anyone else?” the spirit of the Lockshield joked, though he looked a bit stressed at that.

“That’s just how godtier works,” he tried to explain. “It’s like a trial to face your own mortality or something. If everything goes well, which it _usually_ does, you come back to life in a few minutes with new godly powers. And after that, you’re mostly kind-of-sort-of immortal.”

Alex finally managed to say something. “Erica, you knew about this?”

She looked away a bit. “Well, yes. He was totally honest with me about it.”

“And you didn’t think that sounded totally suspicious?”

“Hey, if we really wanted to kill you guys we wouldn’t go through this much trouble!” Key argued defensively.

“That’s really not helping your case, man,” added Joumae. “I’m not ready to die for a total stranger just-”

“We’ve reached it.”

The staircase ended and was replaced with gargantuan chains, stretching from wall to wall like they were holding the core of the moon together. At the center, suspended in black space, the chains formed a tightly wound shell of purple steel. The party flew threw the holes in the links, which were massive enough to be twice their tallest member’s height. All the while Alex choose to walk the length of chains for as long as he was able, trying his best not to slip or look down.

When they pierced the maze of chain links and Alex saw there was still no floor, he chose to cling to the walls instead. From here he could make out two flat, rectangular stone surfaces floating at the very center of the moon. One was blood red, the other a dark forest green. The red stone had a symbol that looked like a cut oozing three drops of crimson ichor. The green stone’s symbol was a stylized skull with spikes jutting out. Both were cracked and ominous, like the altar of a dead cult.

“What are they?” asked Joumae, all the sass gone from his voice.

“They’re called Sacrificial Slabs,” explained Key, wincing at the terminology. “Once you die on these, you and Craixe will ascend to godtier right away. Yours is the red one, making your official title the Bard of Blood. Craixe is the Maid of Doom, which in all honesty makes you two the most metal gods here.”

Craixe didn’t react to the half-joke, instead choosing to stare at her slab. Joumae couldn’t help staring also. He asked, “So how do we go about this exactly? Do we just die automatically or…?”

Key shrugged awkwardly. “No idea. I mean, you don’t just die, something has to kill you. Most of us in the alpha timeline were killed by enemies, a little intentionally but it was out of our hands, so none of us really had to think about it. I could…stab you, maybe? That doesn’t sound very pleasant for either of us, though.”

Joumae narrowed his eyes. “You think?”

“Okay, yeah, we’re not doing that… Oh, wait!” Key pulled a short stick out from nowhere. “I know magic! I’ve never tried the killing curse before, but I think I understand it well enough-”

“Hold on, are you telling me you’re a wizard? Like in Harry Potter?”

“Yes,” he deadpanned, annoyed at the interruption. “Are you telling me you’re actually surprised?”

“…No, not really.”

“Anyway,” he continued, “it should be mostly painless. How about it?”

Joumae hesitated, still not taking his eyes off the Sacrificial Slab. Finally, he tore away long enough to look back at Alex and Erica. One of them seemed pessimistic, dread-filled even, while the other was wringing her hands in a desperate hope. Turning back to Key, he found he couldn’t quite understand the boy’s expression. He seemed nervous, tense, but it was impossible to tell whether he was nervous about the ritual or lying. Either way, it didn’t fill him with optimism.

“Well…” The teen sighed and sat down on the edge of the red slab. “I don’t like any part of this, but if I don’t wake up there’s no way Alex will follow anything you say. And I trust his cooperation is more valuable than my life.”

Key sighed. “I blame Emil entirely for the bad impression. Anyway, he told me to give you this before we start.”

He handed Joumae a folded up slip of paper, which he promptly opened and read. His expression slipped to one of disbelief and embarrassment. “Seriously?”

“Yup. I _really_ recommend you follow it. Wouldn’t want to give this operation any more bad impressions…”

“Um, sure thing…”

The Rogue helped Craixe onto her slab. It was uncertain how much of this she understood, but she complied anyway. They both laid back and closed their eyes like they were sleeping. Somehow, it seemed the thing to do.

“Okay, everyone ready?” When there was no objection, Key raised his wand and concentrated. “Alright, here it comes… _Avada Kedavra!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The split between Dersites and Prospitians is mostly even, but I'm a little sad I couldn't make the ratio 7:7. All Nobodies are here for obvious reason, and also characters who dabbled with darkness because they're giant edge-lords like that. Basically it was arranged by 'whoever looks cool in which pajamas'.
> 
> So, wow, I guess I should explain Joumae? He was introduced in the original Interference as this 'will of the Lockshield' sort of thing that honestly made no sense in continuity but hey here he is anyway. He mostly hangs out as a voice in Alex's head and acts as a backseat driver, but there have been occasions where he's played an active role. In fact, most recently he may-or-may-not have become a villain, but sadly the fic hasn't update for quite some time. Anyway, he's supposed to look the same as Alex and from what I've gathered, he acts more boisterous and less prideful than his counterpart. I think he's probably supposed to be an idealized version of Alex, who he's supposed to become when all of his character development is complete. Kind of like how the character Akuto in my other stories is to me (as well as this version of Emilio, I suppose).
> 
> As for that note, I'm gonna bet it's a crude drawing Emil made of Joumae in the default Bard outfit and it says something like "this will be you. if you don't think of something better everyone else will see it too". Although the Bard costume is fucking hilarious, it's also pretty terrible. I was sorely tempted to let it pass to see everyone's expressions, but seeing as Joumae is one of the two demoing the godtier process...yeah, first impressions are everything. For once Emil actually thought this through.


	11. Scene 11

“Alright, here we are!”

Back on Prospit’s moon the group had gathered themselves around two colorful slabs of rock, one magenta with the Seer’s heart symbol and the other a mint green color. The symbol on the latter was a solid circle with three little ‘arms’ waving out like tiny tentacles. The room was constructed with golden chains, making it feel almost holy. Like a temple.

Emil floated between the two stones and patted the surface of one of them. “Roxas. Naminé. You two are up first.”

Angelina frowned, narrowing her eyes at the heart symbol on the surface. As her friends cautiously approached, she said, “Wait…shouldn’t the heart-one be mine? Seeing as I’m going to be you or something?”

“Not exactly, see… Actually, I don’t know, maybe this one would work for you. I’m not too sure when it comes to overlap like this.” He shook his head, losing his train of thought. “No…no, we’re playing it safe. This one belongs to Roxas, since he also has the Heart aspect.”

“Aspect?” Roxas questioned, inspecting the pink rock closer before sitting on it.

The Seer smiled excitedly, ready with another helping of exposition. “Yeah, the whole hero-title system is really fascinating! I’ve spent some time researching various classes and aspects, and our group has _everything_.”

Seeing that no one was getting it, he continued in a rush of information.

“You see, each of you has a title that describes your godtier powers and how they generally manifest. My title, as you should know by now, is Seer of Heart and Key’s is Rogue of Space. Titles are made up of one class and one aspect. Classes are the first part of the title, and describe the way in which we focus or use our powers. For example, as a Seer I generally use my power of Heart to see and interpret the hearts, or _souls_ , of others to my team’s advantage. Key, on the other hand, can steal space or steal other things by manipulating space. Our aspects are Heart and Space, which are…mostly self explanatory.

“Now, we have between the fourteen of you all of the classes available. At least…the ones I know of. However, this means that because there are only twelve know aspects, two of them have to overlap. One pair is on Derse, representing the aspect of Blood. And here, Angelina and I share the title of Seer of Heart while Roxas has the Page of Heart title. But believe me; the choice of class can make for very different outcomes!

“On the other hand, Naminé gets an exceptionally rare title. She is the Muse of Mind, and as such she represents the most powerful of the passive classes. …I’m not going to get into the whole passive-versus-active-thing, but it’s a pretty big deal. Along with our team’s Lord, she could become one of the most powerful players. So, any questions so far?”

Most everyone was stunned into silence by the young man’s enthusiasm. He shrugged sheepishly.

“Yeah…I’m kind of a giant geek about this stuff, sorry. I’ll explain your titles more clearly after these two have ascended. Roxas, Naminé, could you please lie down? It will all be over with soon.”

They did as he asked, hesitantly, while the Seer put a fist to his chin and furrowed his brow in concentration. After a moment, Roxas dared to open an eye. “Um, is something wrong?”

He frowned. “Hrm…nothing, I just didn’t think this part through.”

A ringing tone echoed through the chamber with no distinct source, and it took a minute for Angelina to realize it was a ring tone. It was an 8-bit song, like from a retro video game. Emil brought a brick cell phone out from the void and silenced it by sliding it open. As he read the message a smile spread across his face.

“Ah Key, good man! He always knows just when I need help. Alright kids, close your eyes!”

With a flourish he pulled out the short stick he used before: his magic wand. He waved it in a zigzagging pattern, pointing it directly at Roxas first. The tip sparked green as the cursed word ripped from his mouth.

_“Avada Kedavra!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More exposition! But this one was pretty...fun for me. In case it wasn't obvious, I am the biggest HS nerd and this is probably the exact amount of enthusiasm I would use to explain this shit. If you have ever had to listen to me talk about this stuff in real life...I'm so sorry (to be fair, I'm pretty much the same about KH, HP, etc.).
> 
> I did put a lot of thought into everyone's titles, and given my limited time and resources for this project (especially with as few repeats and overlaps as possible) I'm surprised at how few of them were forced. But I won't bore you with my decision making process here. I will leave you with this though: how did I live with myself for not making all the KH characters Heart players?? It's a mockery of my skills, that's what it is!
> 
> All these powers and still the best way for Emil and Key to communicate over long distances is through text. Emil totally didn't tell anyone on his side that they would have to die. To him, it just seemed unnecessary.


	12. Scene 12

It was a spectacle that could be seen from space. From each distant moon bright lights forced their way out of every hole and crevice, causing the satellites to shine like stars. It lasted but a few minutes before dying down, leaving Prospit and Derse untouched by the magical transformations that were taking place at their cores.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, this one paragraph IS THE WHOLE SCENE


	13. Scene 13

Joumae patted his chest to make sure he was still there. The spell had knocked into him like cannon fodder and had left him winded, and for a blinding second all he saw was a crackling lime green. There was a bit of a lag where there was nothing, no feeling or thought, before he felt alive again.

When the light of his ascension had faded he found everyone staring in shock and awe at him and Craixe. He looked down, dreading, but sighed in relief when he saw that the Seer’s advice had seen him through. His clothes were still cloth, but dyed a deep rust red. The Blood symbol was on his chest, though everything else about the outfit had turned out as he had envisioned moments before. A jacket over a shirt with heavily pocketed cargo pants that were very Kingdom Hearts-esque…it was a bit simple for such sort notice, but he would tweak it later. Anything to avoid what the note had warned him of.

Craixe on the other hand had stuck with her default design, which he begrudgingly admitted was pretty cool. It shared the same symbol and dark green color scheme as her Doom slab, with a short pointed hood and bandaged leggings. The outfit itself clung closely to her torso and arms in a tunic, but the back tapered off into two coattails. She seemed only mildly interested in her new clothes. Joumae surmised that the girl probably never realized she had died. Or just didn’t care.

“How do you feel?” asked Key. His face had immediately relaxed into a state of relief once the process had started, and now he was smiling excitedly.

“Er…” Physically he felt no different. No injuries, pretty energetic actually, though when he chose to look inward Joumae felt a new, unknown ability beneath the surface, ready to be explored. “Fine, I guess. Godly?”

The Rogue couldn’t help chuckling. “Yeah, once it’s over it’s not very overwhelming. But I’m sure once you start using blood powers or whatever you’ll get into it. Shall we meet up with the others?”

“Uh, sure.”

Key swiped an arm through the air in a great arc, ripping open a portal between the moons wide enough to step through. The Derse group joined the rather perplexed Prospit group, who had two new gods of their own. Roxas was now wearing an outfit with the same colors and symbol as the Seer, only this one was a much tighter affair with magenta shorts (which Joumae suspected came from a situation similar to his own). Naminé on the other hand was wearing a flowing mint robe that draped about her.

“Welcome back,” said Emil, casually observing the new uniforms. “I trust things went well?”

Joumae’s eyebrow twitched. “Oh yes. I’ve always wanted to know what it feels like to face my own mortality. Thanks for the heads up, by the way.”

The young man waved him off. “Always a pleasure. But hey, now you can see why this was so hard to talk about, right? And just how safe it is.”

Alex joined his doppelganger, steadying himself on the other’s arm to relieve the freshest wave of vertigo that was settling in his stomach. “Yeah, this sure justifies kidnapping my sister and kicking my ass twice. Real smooth negotiation skills there, Seer.”

“Oh that’s right now there’s two of them…” The Seer pouted. “Well, still, you all have to admit this is a pretty cool turn of events. And now, for the rest of you…”

He pulled out what appeared to be a leather wallet and slid a card out from one of the pockets. Then in a flash the card had disappeared and in its place…

“The _Highwind?_ ” Sora gaped at the large, colorful craft in front of him. “But how-?”

“I took the liberty of taking it with us,” answered Emil smugly. “The wallet can fit extra-large stuff, much more than your ether-space pockets. This isn’t even the biggest thing in there. Besides, where we’re going I figured the ambiance will be better in there than through a simple teleport. It might be a tight fit though…”

Everyone eyed the Gummi Ship wearily. It did seem small for sixteen people, even at its roomiest build. But, at the Seer’s insistence, they shuffled in nonetheless. As suspected there wasn’t enough room on the bridge for everyone, so some broke off to find free space in the turrets and other small nooks. The rest (Emil, Key, Alex, Joumae, Angel, Sora, and Erica) crowed elbow-to-elbow at the controls.

Emil had settled himself into the captain’s chair and was one of the few who looked in any way comfortable. “Everyone buckled in?”

There were never any seatbelts.

“Good, onward to The Medium!”

With a push of the thrusters the _Highwind_ ascended, weaving through the tightly knit fabric of golden chain until it breached the outer shell. From there it steadily rose through the dark stairwell, making the seemingly endless trek in only minutes. Soon the glittering spires came into sight, but the Prospitian city was passed by without pause. Rising still the first glimpse of Skaia could be seen, a brilliant blue marble that made the gold moon of Prospit pale in comparison. It shone brightly enough to light up the solar system, yet it wasn’t hard to look at. Pulling back away from the towering satellite even farther, glowing, colorful planets could be spotted in the distance in a perfect circle around Skaia.

“H-How did you get all of this here?” stammered Alex. His face fell at the realization. “Don’t tell me, the wallet?”

“Well, only for the transfer,” admitted Emil. He gently nudged Key in the ribs with his elbow. “This guy did all the hard work, as a Thief of Space. Quite literal in this context, I have to say! Though I have to admit, I didn’t expect Skaia to take so well to the new universe.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Sora.

He took a deep breath. More explanation. “It’s all thanks to the Interference Effect, I suppose. Skaia knows everything: everyone, every timeline, every decision and change in causality that has and could ever happen. And it accounts for that and determines the most likely path to long-term success, setting itself up in the most beneficial way to grow a new prosperous universe. When everything’s going according to that plan, that timeline becomes the alpha timeline. There are ways around it, like scratching this game for a new one, or the drastic changes we had to make in order for me to be here, but if anything that could also be part of Skaia’s plan…

“Honestly, when we first got here I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with all this junk. The Horrorterrors were the ones who made us take Skaia, Prospit, and Derse in exchange for information. But wouldn’t ya know it, Skaia had taken it upon itself to make some new planets with new beds, completely reset for players. It even made…certain exceptions that wouldn’t fly otherwise. That’s when I understood that not only could I warn you guys about the impending doom, I had the perfect stage to prepare you. Skaia had accounted for the Interference Effect when it entered this universe and adjusted accordingly, at least that’s my theory.”

Emil finished this newest speech with an air of satisfaction.

“And now that _most_ of the exposition is out of the way, I can drop you guys off on your planets and-…” His brows and mouth formed straight, firm lines. “Oh right, you’re still asleep. Excuse me, we’ll pick this up in a moment.”

He stood up from the captain’s chair and gestured to Key, who was barely hiding a smile. The Skeleton Key likely knew of the blunder the whole time. With a new swipe of his arm another portal was formed inside the ship, revealing a black-and-white chessboard landscape. The flashing clouds of the Incipisphere drifted through the blue, and in the distance Alex could see the silhouettes of castles and oddly-shaped mounds. Directly in front of them lay a towering checkered platform, where a heap of sleeping bodies rested on the smooth surface.

“It’s us!” Alex couldn’t help gaping. Then he remembered that his mind was currently residing in a dream body, and that these were their original bodies. When were things going to start making sense again.

Meanwhile, the Seer had taken out his satchel and was sprinkling a bright pink dust over the bodies. A feeling of dizziness swept over Alex as the world spun around him, landing the boy face-down on the ground for the who-knows-how-many-times-this-made that day. Sitting up, he could now see Emil and Key from the other side of the portal, as well as his now-sleeping dream body. Around him the others groaned, getting their heads readjusted to the new perspective and brushing off the glittering waking powder.

Emil carried out the last of the dream bodies while Key pocketed the ship and closed the portal. They were dumped unceremoniously (but gently) into a cuddly sleeping pile of gold and purple pajamas. And also colorful silk pillows, which had clearly been prepared ahead of time for just this occasion. For Alex it was definitely weird to watch his own unconscious face amidst the others, but he chose to pointedly ignore it. Looking elsewhere, the boy saw different colored portals encircling the edge of the large platform, but not like those that Key made. These where neon-colored spirograph shapes, twitching and shifting open and closed. The Seer spotted his interest, so of course he gestured grandly to the portals to get the group’s attention.

“This is Skaia’s surface, which will act as our meeting point as well as a resting place for your dream selves. We’ve taken the liberty of gathering these gates into one spot, which we will help you navigate. They each lead to one of your planets, and by extension your quest beds. Those are like sacrificial slabs…but much nicer sounding. Pretty much the same process though. You will each make your own way to your quest bed, which will involve solving puzzles and fighting monsters on your planet.”

“Can’t you just make a portal and drop us off at the quest beds right now?” asked Erica. She didn’t want to show it, but nervousness bled through her voice nonetheless.

“Sorry, no.” Key shook his head. “It’s not that we can’t, it’s just that many of you are too low on the- er, too low leveled to safely ascend.”

“Besides, it’s good character building,” chimed in the Seer. “You are allowed to team up and help on each other’s planets, and if things go really wrong Key or I will show up right away. We’ll also help with the, er, ascension once you get to it. In the meantime, we’ll just hang here and guard the bodies. Also, here…”

Emil and Key passed some of the wallet’s contents around the group: mostly laptops and cell phones, with the occasional wrist communicator or headset. Most of them looked suitably silly, but some were surprisingly conventional (like Apple Smartphones and Androids). But even these looked to be some years advanced to the interferences, compared to the ones back home.

“I’ve gathered up and duplicated a bunch of our old communication devices so you guys can reach each other. They should already be signed in to pre-made Pesterchum so if you ever need to chat just click the yellow face icon.”

“Can’t we just…call each other?” asked Alex, waving around the sleek black device. “Y’know, with our phones?”

The Seer deflated, as though some of the wind had been let out of his sail. “Well, I suppose you could, but sometimes it may be easier to group chat.”

“We could just install Skype, right?” suggested Erica. “That way we can just do both on the same-”

“Look, just let me have this okay,” he snapped lightly. Rubbing a hand over his face, Emil continued. “Alright, that should be about it. Any questions?”

Sora raised his hand, but then slowly lowered it when he realized that was stupid. “Um, is it just me or are there two Rikus?”

Everyone immediately checked the group and, sure enough, it wasn’t just him. The _real_ Riku, for lack of a better term, had just spotted his dream duplicate standing wide awake on the other side of the platform. Dream Riku seemed just as surprised by this turn, but Emil just raised an eyebrow.

“Huh, that’s…noteworthy, I guess. I’m sure this will have no unexpected consequences whatsoever, so don’t worry about it.”

Riku (one of them) pointed at the other. “But what do we do about-?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said more assertively, pushing the real Riku to his gate. “We’ll take care of him for now.”

And so, the freshly confused group splintered to their respective gates and left to explore their planets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, always end on a good, totally-not-at-all-confusing note. Leave your readers completely satisfied with what just happened.
> 
> I actually wrote Namine's into the scene RIGHT before the Muse was revealed on MSPA! Mine was a lot more...cute and flowy. Oh well, she'd still look hella cute in this, even though it's really simple (I actually like it a lot). And Namine is a Muse because you-know-exactly-why.
> 
> Why does Alex have acrophobia but Joumae doesn't? I have no fucking idea either, it just makes sense to me for some reason.
> 
> "…certain exceptions that wouldn’t fly otherwise." That right there is going to be my excuse for every inconsistency in this fic.
> 
> I legitimately forgot that everyone was asleep while I was writing this. In fact I forgot a lot of this shit while I was writing it. I can assure you that most of the things you're reading here is just stuff I made up as I went along.
> 
> I really did want a good excuse to keep Pesterchum around though! I suspect that since there's no internet, they wouldn't be able to download skype anyway. The Veil provides for basic communication services and electricity, but not for the internet (the kids tend to use an out of date version of the internet in the comics, none of it is live). I'm gonna say this applies to downloading new programs, too.
> 
> So yeah...in case ya didn't catch on, Riku has a high enough awareness to keep his dream-self awake while he's conscious. I don't really have a reason behind this, I just remembered that was a thing that could happen and thought "yeah I bet Riku could do that". One could argue that the ability to do this would be based on aspect (like Heart, for Dirk) but I tend to treat this sort of thing as inconsequential when it comes to classpects. Besides, other characters could do similar things (Dave was semi-conscious, maybe it's a Strider-thing?). What this holds for the future, I have no idea. Maybe it really means nothing, maybe shenanigans are at foot, I have no idea.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my goodness who could that be?? How many mysterious encounters will we have to endure before we figure out- yeah it's just me.
> 
> This idea pretty much came to me in a fever dream: 'what if by the end of Before the Afterwards fully mature, post-transition me came back to this point in time to wreck shit? but wait...what if I was also sassy as hell and full of godtier magics?? gold, print!' So yeah, if you can't tell by now this is MY version of a power-fantasy, aided by the nested-egg effect that The Interference supplies of unlimited-stacking video game/anime/bullshit powers. Alex gets to do his power-fantasy, and more power to him, but after trying and failing to make a more 'realistic' story on the matter I caved. Now it's time for me to have my guilt-free, showboating, unapologetically self-indulgent fun. ;^)
> 
> But I will try to make a little sense of this. This story operates under the rules defined by The Interference fanfiction (if you don't know...go read it I guess) and the rules of every work I borrow powers from (Kingdom Hearts, Homestuck, Tales of Symphonia, Soul Eater...). Everything here is a legit thing that can happen, in a abstract bullshit sort of way. It's mostly just that I, the Seer, am as powerful as I am because...well, this is kind of the inevitable result of acting as an interference for years on end. You would pretty much HAVE to become a god after absorbing powers from so many universes, so that's how I choose to play this character. As a trickster god.
> 
> Actually...the personality of the Seer is just the logical extension of my current personality if I was given unlimited power and a high self-esteem. I'd pretty much become a lovable (?) dick. But if this sort of idea ain't your thing (and by any logical reasoning, it shouldn't be!) I'd recommend you just stop reading right now. This is a very personal project that was never meant to receive criticism, although it's not exempt from it, and I've really just been writing it for the fun of it and to get more in touch with my inner power-fantasy. No harm done.
> 
> So, on with the story, this scene is just plopped in somewhere near endgame in Kingdom Hearts/Interference. I don't remember much of anything that happens around this time (both in game and in fic), so I'm just inserting scenes like this during vague moments that 'seem safe enough'. And boy is Alex noticing just how fucking weird this interruption is! I'll be honest, a good portion of this whole exercise is just poking at Alex's more vulnerable parts as a character. Because really, how long would it be until I get to that in Before the Afterwards?? As for Angel, she's pretty much getting sidelined for reasons. So the usual then.
> 
> Erica Karsath is a real person (like me/Angel and Alex are), who is both Alex's real life sister and my real life best friend. Alex mentions the existence of his sister sometime in The Interference, as seeing as I'm not there yet in Before the Afterwards most anyone would have no clue about that (except for whoever actually did read The Interference as well, in which case...I'm so sorry). And since Angel still at this point doesn't know who Alex is in real life, she has no idea that he's related to her bestie. This is kind of a weird way to figure out that connection, huh?
> 
> And as for Rogue...well, you'll find out more about him later. Suffice to say, he's a character that was planned to come about much later in Before the Afterwards, a few universes after the Kingdom Hearts section. Just think Soul Eater and you might get some idea of what he's about (and no, he's not from there, he's still an oc).


End file.
